Black Tree Designs

28mm Zulus

Review By Steve Winter

No matter how many different colonial wars and theaters my figure collection expands into, something always eventually pulls me back to the Zulu War. There’s an allure about those seemingly endless masses of splendid natives jogging fearlessly toward the crashing ranks of Martini-Henrys.

If you collect Zulus, then you’re well aware that you can never have too many. Certainly you can never have too many of the beautiful figures being produced by Black Tree Designs of Nottingham, England (previously Icon, then Harlequin). The figures measure in at a pleasing 28M on the Barrett scale, a perfect fit with the newer ranges of colonial figures that are popular now. The sculpting is excellent, the poses are active and varied (I think there must be about 80 separate castings in the line). Most of the figures are in fairly generic battle costume: cowtail anklets, fur and leather loin cloths, with a few wearing cowtail armbands and neck fringes. Only the uThulwana regiment is available in full regalia. The figures I received for review had a fair amount of flash and visible mold lines on the shoulders and legs. These defects cleaned up quickly and the figures were easy to assemble (spears and shields are separate).

As a reviewer, I must point out a few flaws. The “throwing spears” that came in the review pack were clearly stabbing spears. I have other figures with throwing spears, so someone messed up the packing. The imigabelo (those alternating strips of contrasting color that are so characterisitic of Zulu shields) are molded as bumps on the shields to make them easy to paint, but in fact they should be indented into the shield-that’s always bothered me, but I suppose other people like it.

Finally, the figures suffer from one of my pet peeves, which is that some of them have their feet splayed so far apart that they won’t fit on my standard 3/4-inch round bases. But those are no more than quibbles. These are some of the best Zulus in production, well worth the price of $12.80/8 figures. Available in the US from Miniature Service Center, 1386 Portofino Drive, Yuba City, CA, 95993, www.miniatureservicecenter.com.

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